How to Dispute Paternity in California

Paternity disputes are more common than you think in California, particularly when the offspring in question is alleged to belong to a famous celebrity or athlete. Men often dispute that paternity is valid when they have reason to believe they are not the biological father of a child. If you’re experiencing this type of dispute with someone, we recommend you contact an Irvine paternity lawyer to figure out your options and a path forward.

Establishing, and later challenging, paternity in California is governed by a specific set of rules and steps. Below, we review what those rules are, and offer insights into how one would challenge paternity if you’re unsure whether you are truly the father.

How is Paternity Established in California? 

In California, married couples are automatically considered to be the parents of a child. However, unmarried couples who had a child would take the following steps to establish paternity. Paternity can be established up to three years after a child’s 18th birthday.

Sign a voluntary declaration of paternity: Both parents must sign a voluntary declaration of paternity in order for it to be established. In signing this document, you declare that you are the parent of the child and assume the rights and responsibilities therein. This form can be obtained at the hospital immediately following birth, at a local child support agency, at the birth registrar, or via a family law facilitator or welfare agency.

Obtain a court order of paternity: If voluntary declaration is not available, one can obtain a court order for paternity via an order for child support. Either parent can initiate the case to prove paternity, and will have to file a series of forms with the court in order to do so. Typically, an Irvine paternity lawyer will be involved. 

Challenging Paternity with an Irvine Paternity Lawyer

In 2004, the California legislature created a bill that would allow people to challenge both a voluntary and involuntary paternity judgment. There are specific instances in which someone may utilize this law in order to challenge paternity. Those include:

Voluntary paternity declarations may be challenged when a parent has later found out that someone else is in fact the biological father. There is a two-year statute of limitations beginning from the child’s date of birth in order to challenge paternity in this instance.

If a paternity ruling was declared on a default judgment, one can request that the ruling be set aside. Fathers have two years from the date the father should have known about the judgment to challenge paternity in this instance. 

Challenging paternity is complex and requires the care and experience of an experienced Irvine paternity lawyer. Contact our office today to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is paternity disputed in California?

Through a court proceeding, and which procedure applies depends on how parentage was established. Where a voluntary declaration of parentage was signed, it can generally be rescinded within sixty days, and after that challenged only by court motion on limited grounds and within statutory time limits. Where a judgment of parentage exists, a motion to set it aside based on genetic evidence is available, again within a defined period. Where the marital presumption applies, the grounds and deadlines are narrower still.

Can a court order genetic testing?

Yes. On a proper request the court can order the mother, the child, and the alleged father to submit to genetic testing, and the results are highly reliable. But testing answers who the biological parent is, which is not always the same question as who the legal parent is. Where a presumption of parentage exists, either from marriage or from a person having received the child into their home and held the child out as their own, the presumption can outweigh a contrary genetic result.

Why would a court keep a non-biological parent as the legal parent?

Because California law also protects an established parent-child relationship, and the child’s interest in stability weighs in the analysis. Where a man has raised a child as his own for years, courts are reluctant to sever that relationship on the basis of a later genetic test, particularly where doing so would leave the child without a second parent. That is why these cases turn on the history of the relationship as much as on the biology, and why delay in raising the challenge is often fatal to it.

What are the consequences of a successful or unsuccessful challenge?

A successful challenge ends the support obligation going forward and terminates the parental relationship, though it generally does not recover support already paid. An unsuccessful challenge leaves parentage intact, with support ordinarily retroactive to the filing of the petition and in some circumstances reimbursement for support already provided by others. Because the deadlines are strict and the outcomes are consequential in both directions, a suspicion about parentage should be acted on promptly rather than investigated over time.